Engine Oil Color at c. 2K Miles

In my history as a car owner I have never been terribly concerned over the state of my engine oil. And that was mainly because "the damage has already been done" where used vehicles' engines are concerned. If previous owners had been casual about changing the oil, I was the inheritor of any effects good or bad. I didn't ever let my engine oil go more than a year (as near as I can recall), and as I got older I became more converted to making sure my oil got changed regularly. But the timing was more important to me than the color (darkening) of the oil.

Now, all has changed. My Stinger occupies my conscious thoughts throughout the day. Just now, I remembered that a few days ago I said to myself that I was going to check my oil level (since my Cali trip a week or so ago) with the engine stone cold. So, I put it in "N" and rolled back enough to clear the overhang in the carport and popped the hood and pulled the dipstick. The oil looked darker than I expected; sort of "mid tone". Fresh oil is just a light amber. This looks like the color of brown honey (not the consistency of, I hasten to add!). I'm wondering how quickly is acceptable for oil to darken? And at the recommended 6K miles for an oil change (I get mine changed every 4K miles), what color or darkness will the oil look like if everything is working as it ought to be?

(Depending on the answers I get, my suspicion that the service guys don't actually change my oil, just top it off, will either be allayed or heightened.)

Oil on GDI's gets dark really quick, it's normal. My buddy who manages a lube shop has mentioned this a few times over the years as GDI's started getting more popular. Did my first change at around 1400 and it was near black already. Just checked and the Royal Purple I put in around 1k miles ago is already pretty dark. If you want to make sure they're changing the oil / filter, ask them to show you the old filter, if they're just topping up they won't bother swapping the filter.

Thanks for the information. First of all, I am so much *not* a car guy, that I had to look up what "GDI" stands for. As if I researched this engine before I decided to buy a Stinger, heh. I trust Kia's designers and developers and testers (those "German guys" in particular); and I read good things about the engine, and not one whiff of anything bad; so I didn't, and don't, worry about it. Now I know that gasoline direct injection engines include the trait of rapidly darkening engine oil.

My next question is: is dark in any way bad? Because a lifetime of looking at the color/hue is a hard bit of programming to break: dark oil means dirty oil.

Here's the video that my dealer sent of my last oil change and inspection: TruVideo - Repair Orders I guess I could ask to see the oil filter they just took out. But if they were a shady group, they'd just have used oil filters around for just such a purpose.

(Depending on the answers I get, my suspicion that the service guys don't actually change my oil, just top it off, will either be allayed or heightened.)

Click to expand...

Heh! I totally forgot that the video showed the oil filter out and the car obviously in the "drained the oil" position. If I had thought to review the video that I linked to in my last post, I would not have included my "suspicion" about merely topping off: that seems pretty lame now.

That's the first I've heard/seen of a dealer sending a video of the vehicle being serviced, with commentary by the technician assigned. Great idea, hope it gains some traction with other service shops!

Jerry Seiner is a cutting edge Kia dealership. @Sanjay R flew from Oakland CA to buy from them, after hours of phone negotiations: and found the contract ready to sign in complete agreement with the phone agreement. He was impressed, to say the least. Another Forum member from around those parts said he was going to look into coming up here to buy from Jerry Seiner, then drive the car back too. Sounds like a good thing to me!

That's the first I've heard/seen of a dealer sending a video of the vehicle being serviced, with commentary by the technician assigned. Great idea, hope it gains some traction with other service shops!